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American Experience
The Alaska Pipeline's Permafrost Challenge
The oilmen planned to build the Alaska pipeline the same way they'd built every other pipeline in the world -- dig a ditch and bury it. This would not work in the arctic. Beneath a thin, insulating cover of tundra and vegetation, much of Alaska sits on permanently frozen ground called permafrost. In some places, it's mostly gravel, but in others it's mostly ice.
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1:52:39
The lively but neglected history of the women who changed the world while flying it.
52:51
The story of the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi group active across the US in the 1930s.
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51:46
Explore the culture war that erupted over the spectacular rise of disco music.
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The story of a Mississippi town’s effort to integrate its public schools in 1970.
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Revisit 1970s Boston, when court-mandated school integration unleashed racial unrest.
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Casa Susanna was a refuge for transgender women and cross-dressing men in the 1950s-60s.
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Unsung scientist Mária Telkes dedicated her career to harnessing the power of the sun.
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1:22:39
Discover the story of the 1969 showdown between President Nixon and the antiwar movement.
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52:36
Discover the unexpected history behind Monopoly, America’s favorite board game.
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The influential author and anthropologist whose work reclaimed and honored Black life.
52:45
The story of the polygraph, the controversial device that transformed modern justice.
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The Blinding of Isaac Woodard with Spanish subtitles.